Vengeance in Death (In Death #6)(61)

“The caller stated that revenge was the name of his game. Therefore it’s my belief that, acting alone or with a partner or partners, this individual is avenging the murder of one or more of these men. The connection’s there. Marlena to Summerset, Summerset to Roarke. I’ve run the names and their cases through the ICCA.”

She said that briskly, as though it was no more than routine. And her stomach jumped like a pond of frogs on speeders. “There is no evidence to link their murders to one individual. They were killed at different times over a three-year period, with different methods and in different geographical areas. The six men, however, were all linked to the same gambling organization based in Dublin, and that organization was investigated for illegal activities no less than twelve times by local authorities and the ICCA. Data supports that the men were killed individually and for separate motives, likely perpetrated by rivals or associates.”

“Then where’s the connection to the deaths of Brennen, Conroy, and O’Leary?”

“In the killer’s mind. Dr. Mira is working on the profile, which I believe will support my suppositions. If you take it from his angle, Marlena was killed by these men as an example to Roarke, to discourage him from infringing on their territory.”

“That wasn’t the conclusion of the investigating officer.”

“No, sir, but the investigating officer was a wrong cop, known to associate with this organization. He was in their pocket. Marlena was no more than a child.” Eve slid two photos out of her bag, one still taken from each of the hologram images. “This is what was done to her. And the investigating officer spent precisely four and a half man-hours on closing her case and ruling it death by misadventure.”

Whitney stared down at the stills, and his eyes went grim. “Misadventure, my ass. It’s obviously a torture murder.”

“One defenseless girl brutalized by six men. And they got away with it clean. Men who can do that to a child are men who could brag about it. I believe those close to them knew, and when they were killed, one by one, at least one person decided Roarke and Summerset were responsible.”

Tibble turned the still of Marlena’s body facedown. He’d been away from the streets long enough to know he’d be haunted by that image. “And you don’t believe that, Lieutenant? You want us to believe that those six deaths were unrelated, but that our current madman believes otherwise. And you want us to believe he’s killing now, framing Summerset, and all to exact revenge on Roarke?”

“That’s exactly right. I want you to believe that the man Mira described to me as a sadistic sociopath with a holy mission is using all the skill at his disposal to ruin Roarke. Framing Summerset was a miscalculation, and you’ll see when Mira has completed her test evaluations on him. She’s told me in a preliminary interview that Summerset is not only incapable of this range of violence, but is appalled by violence. The circumstantial evidence compiled against him is obvious enough for a cross-eyed five-year-old to see through.”

“I prefer to withhold judgment on that until I see Mira’s completed evaluation,” Whitney told her.

“I can give you mine,” she said, and threw her weight on Summerset’s end of the scale. “The security discs at the Luxury Towers were doctored. We know this. However, the lobby sector — which clearly shows Summerset’s entrance into the building — was untouched. Why? McNab has the disc of the twelfth floor being analyzed by the EDD compu-unit. I’m confident that we’ll discover a blip for the period when Summerset exited the elevator and waited for Ms. Morrell. And again, in the lobby sector where he’s indicated he left the building at approximately twelve forty.”

“The extent of tampering you’re indicating would require very specialized skill and equipment.”

“Yes, sir. So does jamming transmissions into Cop Central. Religion plays a vital part in the motive and method of these killings. The evidence points to a strong, if twisted, attachment to Catholicism. Summerset isn’t Catholic nor is he particularly religious.”

“A man’s faith,” Whitney put in, “is often a private and intimate matter.”

“Not with this man it isn’t. For him, it’s a driving force. I have more. This morning Detective McNab, who was assigned to me from EDD, found what he referred to as an echo on my ‘link transmission from the perpetrator. The transmission did not originate in my home, but someone went to a great deal of trouble to make it appear as if it did.”

Whitney said nothing until he’d scanned the report Eve offered. “This is good work.”

“One of the Riley brothers did a stint on security for a large electronics firm — and he’s also made several trips to New York in the last ten years. I’d like to pursue that angle.”

“Are you planning on going to Ireland, Lieutenant?” Training prevented her from gaping.

“No, sir. I can access any necessary data from here.”

Whitney tapped a finger on the reports. “I’d consider it, seriously consider it.”

Press conferences rarely put Eve in a cheery mood. The free-for-all at the media center was no exception. It was bad enough to be ordered to stand in front of a sea of reporters and tap dance around what was, what should be, and what wasn’t, tricky enough when the questions batted to her dealt with her professional area. But many of the questions during the slated hour took a personal curve. She had to field them quickly, skillfully, and without breaking a sweat.